A hit at film festivals in Cannes and Toronto, Patrice Leconte's (RIDICULE) LA VEUVE DE SAINT-PIERRE is an ominously beautiful, fable-like narrative that resonates in the rich tradition of sophisticated literary romance.

Set on a remote French island off the coast of Newfoundland in the mid-nineteenth century, the community of Saint-Pierre is thrown into turmoil when an alcoholic sailor, Neel Auguste (acting debut of award winning director Emir Kusturica, UNDERGROUND, BLACK CAT, WHITE CAT), stabs a man to death in a drunken brawl and is sentenced to death by guillotine.

The sentence, as dictated by French law, cannot be immediately carried out as Saint-Pierre has neither a guillotine nor an executioner. The French government agrees to send them a second-hand guillotine but warns that it may take up to a year for it to arrive from Martinique. 

In the meantime, Auguste is placed in the custody of the Captain of the garrison (Daniel Auteuil, GIRL ON THE BRIDGE), a cultivated, fatalistic soldier who is utterly devoted to his beautiful wife, Madame La (Juliette Binoche, THE ENGLISH PATIENT, CHOCOLAT). Madame La, a compassionate idealist prone to romantic impulses, devotes herself to Auguste's rehabilitation and under her supervision, Auguste begins to ingratiate himself to the citizens of Saint-Pierre by doing useful odd jobs around town while he humbly awaits his execution. To the dismay of the local authorities, by the time the guillotine arrives from France, Auguste has become the most popular man in the colony and the community is dead set against carrying out his sentence. 

Based on a true story,  LA VEUVE DE SAINT-PIERRE enthralls with its brooding portrait of inescapable honour, love and tragic destiny.